The Original Cinderella
by Eliniita
Summary: Humanverse. Hayley Marshall gets roped into working for the dysfunctional Mikaelsons. Family Drama. Mostly focused on TeenRebekah/TeenKol/Elijah/Hayley with sprinkles of everyone else -Chapter 12. HayleyXElijah make plans, Freya brings the drama.
1. Chapter 1

_Author note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy. A special thank you to the Spaniard Soap Opera "Floricienta" and of course "The Originals" for inspiring this. A fair warning that this "plot bunny" appeared after being sick/feverish for 5 days. :)_

* * *

 **The Original Cinderella**

Chapter One

Elijah Mikaelson looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. She was wearing a long emerald gown, with pearl earrings. Her long dark hair, in perfect soft waves, adorned her face. He had loved her for a long time, and was grateful, that finally, she had accepted his proposal ...not only to marry him, but also to move into the Mikaelson Estate. Things had been hard on his entire family since the death of their brother, Finn, 6 months ago, and Elijah had a hope that bringing Katherine home would somehow lift spirits. His at least.

"What are you thinking about, my beloved?" She purred into his ear as they danced slowly. For Katherine, living at the Mikaelson Estate had very much to do with her own survival rather than love for the lot, but she knew she'd have to learn to swallow the family is she was to become Mrs. Elijah Mikaelson, and she did truly want that.

"I'm thinking about...how nice it's been...just you and me. I wish this moment could last forever." He whispered back. He never had much time to himself at home. When his parents died, 3 years ago, he had just graduated University, and he and his older siblings had decided to stick together and help raise their younger siblings. Henrik had been 7, and Elijah hadn't been able to bear the thought of a young Henrik in a foster home. Rebekah and Kol definitely would have driven a few families crazy before hitting 18. So that was that. They'd stick together as one.

"Well so do I, Elijah, but the way you keep checking your phone every 20 minutes, makes me think you're lying…" She admonished, but honestly wasn't surprised. Elijah felt bound to his family.

At her words, and as the song they were dancing to came to a slow finish, walking back towards their table, he gifted her a smile.

"Do forgive me Katherine, I just can't help but worry, you know how's it's been since…" he stopped himself as they reached their table, and pulled out Katherine's chair. He hadn't meant to continue the conversation, but when he sat down, Katherine grabbed onto his hands and looked him in the eyes with a compassion she was not known for.

"I know it's been hard for you since Finn passed away...it hasn't even been 6 months. It's okay for you to worry, and really, call. It'll put your mind at ease."

She wasn't wrong. Things had been especially hard since the death of Finn. It was just when their lives were starting to get better, tragedy had struck. The worst part was the horrible way that Finn passed, thanks to his drugged up girlfriend and a car that should not have been going that fast...

Elijah had finally managed to convince Freya, his older sister, that she could have a life of her own, and she could get married and start her family, and that he, Finn, and even the recently University graduate Klaus, could hold down the fort. Famous last words. It wasn't like Finn had really even been a big help with the family, he was much more preoccupied with Sage, his girlfriend, and his job at their father's corporation, but he was still part of the family, and Freya had loved him best. It was a terrible blow for the newlywed.

Mathias was working in Europe, had accepted the job before they got married, and Freya, like a good wife, had gone with him. They'd promised to return as soon as Mathias' contract was up, in just a few more weeks… but that mean that this weekend trip that Elijah had to take left only Klaus to reign in the craziness of the Mikaelson Estate. Yes, perhaps Elijah should call.

"Oh!" He sighed, as he finally looked at his phone once again.

"What's wrong?"

"I ran out of battery...what if something's wrong?" He immediately panicked, criticizing himself for not having charged the contraption.

Katherine tried hard not to roll her eyes at her fiancee. He really needed to relax.

"Nothing is wrong. Here, use my phone…" She immediately regretted handing him her newest phone, knowing that if he dialed any of his siblings, he'd see the names she'd 'kindly' given them. Like "LittleBlondeSlut" or "TerrorFromHell" or…

"You have my home number saved as Castle of Chaos?" He gave her a small smirk. "Pretty accurate…"

Katherine's laugh, which she tried to make sweet and charming actually came out as nervous. She was grateful though, that was definitely the best number he could have dialed…

"Hello?"

"Um...Hello?" Elijah pulled the phone away from him, making sure he had the dialed the right number. The woman's phone was not familiar to him…

They had a maid, cook, butler, and gardener...and a few other people that worked for them around the house, but this voice sounded young, and...it wasn't his sister.

"Yeah…?" The young woman on the other line actually sounded annoyed. Elijah couldn't believe it! Could it be a friend of Klaus'? Or maybe even Marcel's…

"This is Elijah Mikaelson speaking, may I ask whom I am speaking to?"

A snort. An actual snort.

"This is the lead vocalist of HayElla! Are you joining us for the party Elijah?!"

"Party?!"

Katherine quirked a brow at Elijah's sudden outburst, but was not surprised that those brats would have a party when they were away…. 'Annoying little jerks' she thought, but gave Elijah a reassuring hand squeeze.

Elijah had tried to get more information out of the girl, but after some obvious wrestling of the phone on the other end, he finally heard a familiar voice.

"Niklaus!"

"Elijah! What the bloody hell? I've been trying to call you for at least 30 minutes!"

"My battery died...what's going on?" He didn't really believe that Klaus, at 22, would seriously be having a party behind his back, but it was odd that he had allowed one…

"Your soon to be dead brother and sister planned a foam party at our house! Elijah! Actual foam!"

The older man had to blink a few times before deciding how he felt about this. Foam?

"They actually convinced me to go watch a movie with Henrik, because, they'd be fine, they said...those idiots! Did they really not think we'd be back before their ridiculous party ended-hey you! Leave those plates alone!" Klaus growled out to one of the many 'tipsy' teenagers currently going crazy in his home.

Elijah on the other hand, was already, standing up and motioning for Katherine to follow him. So much for some nice, quiet time alone with his fiancee. They were not close to home, as a matter of fact, they were 2 hours away, but there was no way he was going to wait till tomorrow to drive home.

"Alright, Niklaus, can you-calmly- get everyone out? I'll be home as soon as possible. We're leaving now."

"Yeah, that's fine Elijah."

"Klaus...I'll talk to Rebekah and Kol. You don't have to…"

"I'm going to kill them, Elijah. I'm going to take a match and burn all of the things they love…"

"Patience, brother!" Elijah groaned out, unsure what he'd be going home to, but knowing he should get there as fast as he could.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**_Thank you so_ ** much for the reviews, favs, and follows.

* * *

 **The Original Cinderella**

Chapter 2

Rebekah looked over at her older brother, Kol, who was busy grasping his necklace and swinging it from side to side. She had forgotten what a horrible liar he was. He was definitely going to screw up her whole life. Next to Kol sat Henrik, who was busy playing a stupid game on his cell phone. Ugh. She was definitely surrounded by idiots. She also couldn't help but notice the ice cream stain on Henrik's blue t-shirt. Could he be more of a pig?

"Henrik...remember our story, right?" She whispered, aware that Elijah, Klaus, and Katherine were just outside the room, 'discussing' what to do with them…

"Duh, I'm not stupid Bex." The 10 year old said, not looking up from his game.

"Apparently you ARE! You were supposed to get lost so Nik would spend a few hours looking for you...and me and Matt were supposed to have our magical dance…"

"Oh puke. You know this was a stupid plan. I told you that from the beginning…" Her older brother interrupted, taking his long necklace off completely and wrapping it around his fingers. Rebekah rolled her eyes, thinking, not for the first time, that her brother probably had ADHD or something.

"Well, why'd you go along with it?" She grumbled, as she took a jab at Kol's stomach. He _had_ told her how stupid her plan was, but he was Kol, who lived in the moment, and didn't worry about consequences. Henrik obviously wasn't too worried either, as he was completely focused on his game.

"The booze"

"The money" They answered at the same time, and Rebekah was reminded of the deal she had made with the two.

"Right...just remember you two promised to take the blame…"

"Ughh" The 15 year old Kol threw himself on his little sister, hugging her as she screamed at him to let her go. He was so annoying.

"You're so dumb Bex, you know we'll go along with your diabolical little plan…"

"Yeah, as long as we get paid" Henrik added, referring to the money Rebekah promised to pay them if they took the blame for their latest stunt, in case they got caught. Matt had finally asked her out, and she didn't want anything to ruin that.

"What's going on in here?" Elijah asked, going into his office after hearing Rebekah's screams. Klaus had filled him in on their horrible night, and then decided to go to the kitchen to get a drink. Katherine had decided to go home, she still needed to do some packing before she was ready to move in with her fiancee.

At Elija's question, Kol immediately let go of Rebekah, who tried to straighten out the wrinkles in her dress, avoiding eye contact in the process. Henrik snuck his cellphone into the couch crease where the three were sitting,and gave Elijah his best 'I am not to blame' smile.

At the awkward silence from the three, Elijah went over to his desk and leaned on it, trying to assess the situation. Rebekah was looking right past him, Kol was playing with his necklace, and Henrik was giving him a weird look. He had told Katherine to go home, secretly hoping she still wasn't aware of how completely psychotic his family members were.

"Well? I _am_ waiting for an explanation."

The blonde teenager tried to kick Kol discretely, but when he yelled out 'ow', everyone stared at _her._

"Rebekah?"

"Well, Elijah...You see…"

"It was completely and totally, 100%...Kol's fault!" Henrik yelled, before Kol could decide if he really wanted to take the blame or not.

At the accusation, he punched his little brother, but when his sister grabbed his arm and squeezed it, he knew he was going to do it for his little sister...and the money she had promised to pay him. Not to mention that it meant that she would owe him a favor, and he would definitely use that to his advantage.

"Kol!"

"Ugh…" The young man groaned and stretched out his face with both hands before looking up at his older brother.

"Alright, it was me… some of my mates thought it'd be a great idea to have this band over, and it just snowballed into this out of control party...I bribed Henrik to distract Nik."

"Henrik, you knew about this party?"

The 10 year old's first reaction was to give a nonchalant shrug, but at Elijah's raised eyebrows, he threw up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm sorry! I just needed some money for my new game...Street Fighter 5 is coming out, and Mina actually thinks she's going to beat me! Me! The champion of-"

"Okay, enough!" Elijah looked at Rebekah next, knowing she and Kol were most likely behind all of this, but she was being unusually quiet.

"What about you Rebekah?"

"Oh! Bex is the only innocent party here" Kol interrupted before she could reply, and it made her worry. He was sure to overdue it, and it's not like Elijah was an idiot.

"She didn't know what was happening, and when she realized I had planned this party, she wanted to call Nik...but then, I...locked her in the bathroom. Hilarious, but wrong."

The three younger siblings tried looking everywhere except in front of them at their brother, who knew them pretty well, and they were all unsure if he'd actually believe their lie.

On the other hand, Elijah was looking at all of them thoughtfully. He had no doubt that Henrik would do something stupid to get his hands on some video game. He _could_ believe that Kol would lock their little sister in the bathroom. The two were closest in age, and they loved to fight almost as much as they loved being partners in crime. What was hard to swallow was how calm Rebekah had been, normally she would have called for Kol's head on a platter already.

"You were locked in the bathroom the whole time, Rebekah?"

"It was the worst Elijah! Kol is a psychotic menace, he needs to be locked up!" She yelled angrily, and so convincingly that Elijah was forced to swallow his suspicions.

"Right..Well, why don't you go get some rest, Rebekah?"

The young blonde had to fight hard to hide the smile that threatened to show up on her face, instead she bit down on her lips, and left the room.

* * *

Rebekah walked cautiously to their kitchen, letting the smile come out. She was happy. It wasn't that her brothers were going to get in trouble, while she would get away with throwing a party, not at all, but for the most part, her plan had worked!

She had just wanted to be able to spend some time with Matt Donovan, the High School Football star. They didn't have any classes together, but she'd talked to him on a few occasions, and she just felt like there could be something there. She had been right. They'd spent all night together, and he'd asked her out.

Life could not be any more perfect, she was thinking as she walked into the kitchen to grab a bottled water. Niklaus was sitting at the island, drink in one hand, phone in the other.

"I'm quite aware that you think she's the spawn of the Devil, Caroline, but she say it's important, and you…" He paused when he noticed his little sister glaring at him accusingly. _Great_. He'd forgotten how hard it was to get any privacy around this house.

"Who are you talking to?" The 14 year old demanded, placing her hands on her hips and squinting her eyes, trying to seem as upset as she felt.

"Hey Care, I'm going to have to call you back...yeah, I'll just see you tomorrow, luv...goodnight."

"Could you be more of a brat, Rebekah? I was talking to a friend…"

"A friend? She sounded like a whore-"

"You couldn't hear her."

"So it _was_ a female! Is she your girlfriend?!"

"No."

"What did you mean you'll see her tomorrow?!"

"It means I'll be seeing her face tomorrow."

"Is she coming here?"

"Don't worry about it. You won't be here. She's coming for lunch."

"She's gonna eat our food?!"

"Rebekah."

"I can't believe this!"

"Rebekah."

"What?"

"You're an imbecile. I'm going to sleep."

* * *

Rebekah laid in bed, quietly fuming and hating the new woman in Niklaus' life. She was planning on stealing his phone and finding out who this girl was, exactly. That's when Kol came in, he was still wearing jeans and his white t-shirt, so she assumed he hadn't gone into his room yet.

"So? What's the verdict?" She asked, looking up from her phone. He plopped himself down on her purple bean bag.

"Oh, I don't know, I tuned him out after awhile." He joked, or at least, she hoped he was joking.

"Kol! What are your plans for lunch tomorrow?" She demanded, giving him a dangerous smile.

"Oh, I don't know, go to the lunchroom and eat?"

"No. We're coming home for lunch..."

"We can't leave school grounds..."

"Yes we can. We have a mission. Find out who Nik is seeing, and you know, ruin her life."

"Sounds harsh. I already have to help Mary clean the house this week, I'm not sure I'm up for any more of your crazy ideas." He admitted, stretching out over her beanbag and staring at the ceiling. He was pretty tired.

"Oh come on, what do you want from me?" At his sudden smile, she immediately regretted asking. Of course he was doing this to get her to do something.

"Well, since you asked...the band that played tonight left some of their instruments here. I mean, they were kinda terrified of Nik, and just took off. They want their stuff back...but I need some help sneaking it out of here."

"Wait, where is it? I didn't see any instruments..."

"They stuffed everything in the closet downstairs. They said they need it back, or we have to pay for it."

"That's so ...wait, when are we gonna do that?"

"Now?"

"Kol, It's 1 in the morning..."

"Fine. We'll do it before lunch, I mean if we're gonna ditch school, we might as well skip all day."

"You're such a bad example."

"Not as bad as you."

"Ugh, whatever, just get out of my room." She finalized, ready to go to sleep, they were clearly going to have a long day tomorrow.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

A big _**thank you** _ to all of you who reviewed/followed/fav'd my story! I'm sorry this took a bit. I just moved, and hadn't had internet :)

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 **The Original Cinderella**

Chapter 3

"Kol, aren't you supposed to be helping Mary with the morning cleaning?" Elijah asked, very casually, as if it had not been him who had handed out the punishment. It was the most irritating thing in the world, Kol Mikaelson decided as he took another sip of his orange juice. He was sitting at the kitchen island, wearing his school uniform and dragging his backpack around, though he knew full well that he wasn't going to go to school.

"Oh I was, but then the cleaning chemicals gave me allergies. Really. I almost passed out" He lied, looking at his phone. He had met a young woman at the party, and he was kind of being a creeper, looking at her Instagram pictures. She was absolutely gorgeous.

The older man rolled his eyes, leaned forward to snatch the phone out of the 15 year old's hand, and simply gave a demanding stare. Kol tried to give him back the same look, and they looked so similar that he almost matched it, but Elijah had perfected the look long ago, and finally the younger Mikaelson simply groaned and stood up.

"Ugh, fine!"

"Thank you" Elijah called back, but by then Kol had rushed out of the kitchen. Just as Elijah was about to set the phone down, the phone in his hand began to vibrate. He wasn't a fan of intruding on privacy, but what he saw of the message caused him a fair bit of alarm. It was from Rebekah.

 **"Where are you? Are we ditching school, or what?"**

* * *

Rebekah glared at Kol, Kol gave her a sympathetic grin. How was it his fault that she would send such an incriminating text message?

They were sitting on the one of the white couches of their sitting room, with the main entrance to their right, and the kitchen in the distant left.

"You're the absolute worst brother in the world" she seethed, deciding it was all his fault for leaving his phone with Elijah. _Elijah_ of all people!

"Now everyone is going to assume I'm just a troublemaker like you…"

"This isn't my fault and you know it, Bex, and anyway, being sent to school with Katherine is hardly any trouble."

Oh. Right. Katherine. She was in the kitchen grabbing a snack before taking the two to hell. When Elijah had seen Rebekah's text, he had called Katherine to kindly take them to school. She was one of the elective instructor's, and taught yoga at the private institution.

"Hey brats. Ready to go?" She asked coming out of the kitchen, Kol had to admit that she was absolutely gorgeous, even if he thought her a bit too brash and cocky.

"We are not brats...or at least, I'm not" Rebekah fumed, grabbing her backpack and getting up.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look Elijah filled me in, you two were planning on ditching school, so now I have to personally escort you to class."

"Oh kill me." Rebekah grumbled, she absolutely could not stand the older woman.

"Actually...I don't think I mind being escorted to class by you Katherine. "

"You're so gross Kol"

"Well you're a bitch, Bex"

"Okay, seriously? Enough. I have a headache. Can we please just go? I don't want your brother thinking I can't handle you little idiots"

"Wait, where IS Elijah? And Nik for that matter? I feel like they normally like to yell a bit more."

"That is none of your business. Let's go"

* * *

"Freya, we really miss you, but don't worry. We're doing fine."

"I know you say that Elijah, but let's be honest, sometimes you don't realize what's happening right in your own house."

"Niklaus is here to help"

"Oh please, Klaus has no patience for our siblings. I'm genuinely worried! It sounds like they've been trouble..."

"When are they not?" Elijah said, laughing a bit, though he understood perfectly,well why Freya was worried. She was the one that really paid attention to everyone, who cared and listened to them. Elijah was always a bit too busy with work and Niklaus wasn't known for his incredible amount of patience.

He was about to tell her once more not to worry, but just then the doorbell rang. And rang. And rang.

"Um...Freya, I'm gonna have to call you back, someone is at the door" He muttered, wondering where the staff was at.

He rushed to the door, calling for Mary, or Niklaus, who should have been home, but he received no reply. When he opened up the door, his eyes widened is slight horror.

In the doorway stood a young woman with black combat boots, tight jeans, a black shirt with a white skull, and highlights of pink in her hair. Her arms were decorated by colorful bracelets, and she had a clear look of defiance on her beautiful face. Elijah definitely didn't have time for this.

"Um...can I help you?" He asked, barely remembering his manners. He couldn't imagine that the woman Niklaus had mentioned coming over 'Caroline', was this woman in front of him.

"Yeah, you definitely can! I need to talk to K-"

"You're here!"

The young woman and Elijah both turned, surprised to see Henrik running down the grand staircase towards the woman at the door.

"Henrik, you know this woman?" Elijah asked incredulously, as Henrik threw his arms around their 'guest', she was instantly appalled and about to push his off but he quickly whispered in her ear,

"Play along if you want to get paid, I know where your instruments are"

"Yes! Elijah, this is..."

"Hayley."

"Hayley!" Henrik repeated cheerily, Rebekah and Kol definitely owed him. Kol had managed to send him a quick text message before heading off to school, explaining that Hayley was on her way, demanding to be paid for the gig, and to collect the band's instruments.

"Hayley?"

"Yes, Elijah. She's...She's... She's here to see Mary!"

"Mary? Our housekeeper Mary?"

"You mean, our Household Manager Mary...she's been needing help Elijah. Niklaus told her she could hire some help" A lie. Such a lie.

"Um..." Hayley was about to protest, but she was also curious about the strange family. She didn't have any siblings, and had never met her biological parents, and so she was always curious about family functions. Of course, the Mikaelsons seemed to be more dysfunctional than anything else, but she could play along for a couple of minutes...

"Yes, he's right. I'm here for an interview."

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

_Apologies_ for the late update! I was in my last semester of school, and things got pretty intense...(So happy to be done!)

 **Thank you, thank you, than YOU.** I'm so appreciative of the reviews, pms, favs and alerts on this story.

* * *

 **The Original Cinderella**

Chapter 4

"Yes. He's right. I'm here for an interview."

Elijah stared at the woman, for what seemed like forever to Hayley and Henrik, but finally he gave a short smile, and wavered her in.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't know about this. Let me take you to see Mary."

Henrik immediately frowned at that, he was meant to give her an envelope full of cash and let her take some instruments from the closet, somehow he didn't think Hayley actually meeting Mary, who had no idea what was going on, would be a good idea.

"Oh, Um...I can take her Elijah. I know where Mary is, and you have to go to work, right?"

"That's very kind of you Henrik." Elijah gave him a fake smile, wondering why the child was still around. Henrik was a great kid, he always had been, obedient and sweet, but with the changes in their lives, the loss of family, and the influence of Rebekah and Kol, Elijah worried that the young boy was actually struggling.

"...but why aren't you on your way to school?"

Hm. Good question.

The young boy looked away for a second , stretching his arms up into the air before looked back at Elijah. Rebekah had informed him that he was a bad liar because he always caressed the lower part of his face when he was lying. He was trying to break the habit.

"Elijah! It's Monday. School always starts an hour later on Mondays for me, don't you remember?" He tried to sound as insulted as possible, as Elijah led Hayley to his office. It wasn't such a stretch of a lie, he knew the public school always started late on Mondays.

"I...I guess it slipped my mind. Where is Mary?"

At this, Hayley looked at the young boy. This was not good. She hadn't really thought that she was actually going to have to meet this "Mary" woman, she really just needed her money. Her band wasn't doing that well, and her hours had been cut in half at the bar, since stupid Stefan had hired his worthless brother. She really couldn't complain though, her manager was a good brother. More than anything, she was jealous; Jealous of anyone with a family.

"Oh, she must be in the kitchen. I'll go…"

"No. Henrik, go get your backpack, Ms…" He turned his attentions to Hayley, and the look of surprise on her face made him want to smile for some reason.

"Marshall...but you can call me Hayley." She said, turning away from his gaze. She wasn't blind. The man was gorgeous, intense, and … a suit? Why in the world would he be wearing a suit?

"Alright, Hayley, please take a seat. I'll go get our housekeeper."

As soon as Elijah walked out of the office, Hayley turned to the scrappy looking kid.

"Alright, I'm so done. Where's my money, and where are my instruments, I have two guys waiting outside to help with that…"

"What! No, they can't come in now, Elijah will definitely notice…"

"How is that my problem exactly? We played a gig, nobody said anything about sneaking around afterwards. One of my bandmates is still terrified of that guy that kicked everyone out...he refused to come!"

At that Henrik had to laugh, yes, Niklaus could certainly be terrifying when he wanted to be.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this, my siblings are crazy...your money is upstairs in Rebekah's room, I'll go get it, but if you could please just wait an hour to get your instruments, it'll be easier to sneak your instruments out once my brothers leave for the office."

"What about your parents?"

At that, the young boy sighed before giving her a weak smile. "Oh you know...life is shitty. They're not around"

She was surprised by the language coming out of such a young and sweet boy, and she couldn't help but empathize. She knew what it was like not to have parents. At least he had family around.

"You're right. Life is shitty sometimes." And she gave him a smile, a rare genuine one.

The young boy raised a brow, he hadn't noticed...she was very pretty.

"Well, anyway, let's go, before-" Henrik had no time to finish the thought, as apparently it didn't take too long for Elijah to find Mary, and they both came back into the room.

"..." Hayley gave the young boy next to her a worried look, she really hadn't meant for her morning to be so 'eventful'. The 10 year old could empathize, he was always stuck in the middle of his siblings' shenanigans, and although it could be fun, mostly it was terrifying.

"Mary, this is Hayley Marshall"

The older woman gave her a smile, and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Hayley, so nice to meet you! You have no idea what a relief it is to be getting some help around here, I had called the agency this morning, I had no idea they'd send someone so soon!"

"Oh no! Listen, the truth is-"

"Don't worry, I'll give you a tour of the house, and explain what I'm looking for, and then you can decide if the job will suit you"

"But-"

The woman had reached out to her and was leading her out, she was so desperate for help around the house that she failed to notice the girl's odd outfit, and clear confusion.

The younger woman turned to give one last horrified look to the 10 year old, and then one of resolution. She wasn't about to waste another moment here, she was going to tell the truth!

She was ready to pull away, when he gave her a shrug and a sympathetic smile, and for some reason, she found it oddly comforting, and terribly sad.

'They're not around' He'd said of his parents, and she wondered who _was_ around for the sweet boy. Mary kept talking, as she guided her around the house, and for some inexplicable reason, Hayley listened.

* * *

"You're such a harlot, Bex" He stated plainly, as he noticed what his younger sister was staring at, or rather, who.

Kol had taken his tray of food over to where his sister was, still planning to get away for the day, and checking to see if his sister still wanted to tag along. Henrik, before going to school, had texted about a 'problem' he'd encountered with Hayley.

Rebekah turned away from the view, stared at her brother for a full 3 seconds, before punching his arm.

"Ow!"

"I am a lady, Kol Mikaelson, and you _will_ treat me with respect!"

"A lady doesn't ogle at older men."

"I wasn't ogling, and besides, he's practically our…"

"Please don't say 'brother', I WILL throw up" Kol muttered, as he sat down on the same lunch table that his sister was occupying. He began to pick at his food, but he'd honestly lost his appetite. He knew his sister liked Marcel Gerard. She had since she was 10 years old, and he was brought into their lives, a victim of abuse, and a bad system. Marcel had been 15, a quiet and troubled young man, who had somehow managed to be forgiving.

His parents had been fostering the boy, and when he seemed to be such a perfect fit in their hearts, they'd decided to adopt him. Nothing was finalized before their death, and so, after a year, Marcel was placed back into a cruel system until he was 18 years old. Kol had never learned to like him.

"No...he's not our brother, Kol, but we can still be family to him...I don't know…"

"You love him, and it's making me sick."

"I do...not" She complained, looking at her own, equally unappetizing food. She did love Marcel; she wanted to be near him, but of course, she understood the impropriety of the thought.

"He's 5 years older than you Rebekah. It's _illegal_ "

"Can you, stop? You are so inappropriate. What do you even want, you usually sit with your hoodlum friends." She stated, finally realizing that he didn't usually seek her out. To be honest, they shared friends and were both normally surrounded by people, but Rebekah has seen Marcel visiting his girlfriend, Camille, who was an assistant to the school counselor. She had followed them out into the courtyard, though she wasn't a fan of the cold weather.

"I know that, but I thought we were skipping out today? I thought you wanted to mess with Nik's lunch date?"

Oh. She'd completely forgotten about that little detail, and she was suddenly full of energy.

"Well, stop eating you fat cow!" She giggled, taking her book bag and grabbing his arm. "We have places to be!" She shouted, unaware of how loud she had been, and how both Camille and Marcel had noticed the two siblings. They walked over casually, not holding hands, but Camille was smiling and pointing to Marcel's "visitor" badge. She loved that he'd often come and have lunch with her.

"Hello, how are you two?" She greeted, as she came into contact with the two Mikaelson siblings.

The two gave her a small smile.

"Kol, Rebekah. It's been a while" Marcel stated, though he had seen them just last week. He was supposed to have dinner with them tonight, as well, though he was unsure if they knew that. Klaus, his best friend, had invited him over to meet Caroline, a woman he'd met at University, and had gotten close to.

"Not long enough" Kol 'joked' with a wink, while Rebekah elbowed him and told him to shut up. Marcel chuckled. They'd never change.

"Sorry about him, you know, he was dropped on his head when he was a baby."

"I was not" Kol pouted, but really, with his siblings, it was entirely possible.

Camille chuckled, and placed her arm on Marcel's, something that did not go unnoticed by the blonde Mikaelson.

"How is the semester going, do either of you need help with any subject?"

Ugh. Camille. Rebekah had to roll her eyes, she, along with her girlfriends, often joked about how nosy the woman was. Sure, it was her job to make sure that students who were struggling could get the help they needed, but it didn't stop it from being any less annoying.

"Nope, we're great, A's all around, right Mr Mikaelson?"

"That's right Miss. Mikaelson, we're perfect." Kol agreed with a clap, realizing their window of escape was getting smaller.

"But really, it was great to see both of you, let's do this again, sometime, yeah?" Kol asked, as Rebekah pulled him away and they ran off, leaving the older two in slight confusion.

"They're quite possibly the oddest students I've ever met."

"Oh Cami...if you only knew the rest of the family" Marcel said with a wink, and then realized how entertaining that might actually be.

"By the way...do you have plans for dinner tonight?"

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

**I had a dream with the Originals last night and I knew I just had to update this little story. This chapter is all over the place, mostly because I kept writing separate scenes, and then tried to piece them together. It seemed annoyingly long, so I decided to split the chapter. :/ I do hope you enjoy!**

 **Other notes:**

-I just remembered, the "Novela" this is inspired by is actually Argentinian (Not Spaniard, as I had previously thought)

-A million **thank you's** to those of you who read/review/alert/fav! It really means the world to me! I love hearing your thoughts!

* * *

 **The Original Cinderella**

Chapter 5

Klaus was pacing in the kitchen. Caroline had just called to cancel on him, saying how her father had invited her out, but that she promised she'd make it for dinner tonight. Marcel, who was supposed to join them for drinks, had mentioned that he was bringing a friend. He wasn't sure about that; He and Caroline had agreed to be friends, he didn't want her to feel like he was setting her up on a double date. The most annoying part was that he felt like he'd had no control over the night.

As he finally decided to sit at the Island, Mary and a strange looking young woman came into the kitchen. He couldn't help but notice her ridiculous outfit...and her legs.

"Oh! Niklaus, I didn't realize you were here." Mary admitted as he turned his attention towards her. Mary had been working for his family for a long time, and he liked her fine, though he was sure she had been having an affair with his father before his parents passed away. He had been a child when he saw them together once...they were very close...interestingly enough, instead of his father talking to him about it, or threatening him not to say a word, Mikael ignored it, nothing changed. He treated his son as he always had-badly.

"I was going to go out, but my friend bailed on me...who's this?" He finally said, leaving the past in the past.

"Oh! Klaus, this is Hayley Marshall. She'll be helping around the house, and driving your siblings around."

Hayley gave a slight wave, and a small smile. He was handsome.

"Oh, that sounds awful, I'm sorry Hayley."

She gave an awkward laugh, grateful that he apparently didn't recognize her from the other night. Yes, she had been wearing a mask, and a ridiculous clown outfit, complete with a pink tutu... not to mention the foam everywhere, but still, they had been pretty close when she answered the home's telephone, and he had wrestled it out of her hands. She hadn't noticed him then, not like she was noticing him now. He had seemed deep in thought, troubled almost.

"No problem, I'm sure it'll be...an adventure."

Niklaus Mikaelson stared at her for a brief second longer than he'd meant to, enjoying her attitude.

"Hayley?!" From the doorway, burst in Kol and Rebekah, The young girl looked around everywhere, sure that Niklaus was hiding someone-

"Where is that hussy?" She finally asked, annoyed. Whenever Klaus brought a woman home, she turned out to be a raging lunatic, and Rebekah, for one, was sick of it.

All 3 adults stared at the two teenagers, all somewhat bewildered. Niklaus chose to ignore Rebekah, as she clearly wasn't speaking about either women in the kitchen.

"Kol, you know Hayley?"

The singer gave the boy who had hired her band a look of 'It's a long story', while he gave her a look of slight panic.

"Ummm...who?"

"Hayley? The woman standing right here? You said her name when you came in…" The blonde haired man squinted his eye, ready for the lies that were sure to come out of Kol's mouth.

"Oh yeah!"

"We met this morning." Hayley interrupted, trying to help the poor boy. "He gave me directions."

"That's right!" Rebekah decided to help out, realizing there was no one else in the kitchen. " I remember you too. You found the place, good!"

"Yes, she did, thanks for helping her out. She's to be my new assistant" Mary announced proudly and then turned to the young woman, "Shall we continue on the tour Hayley?"

"Sure."

It wasn't till after the two women were gone that Niklaus noticed the clock on the wall.

"It's 1:00 in the afternoon. Should I tell Elijah you're skipping school, or would you hellions like to do the honors?"

"Oh silly Niklaus" Rebekah began, sitting next to him and putting her hand over his, lightly tapping. "You poor dear, you've been gone so long that you've forgotten that the kitchen clock runs slow."

"Silly me. Is my watch also running slow? Oh, and look" He pulled out his cellphone to show the time. 1:01pm "My phone too! What rotten luck I have."

"Bex, don't mess with Nik. Just tell him the truth, already-school got out early."

"You two think I'm stupid." Niklaus stated, it was clearly not a question.

"Well yes, we do, but Kol is telling the truth Nik. You know he's a bad liar." That was true enough.

"You can check the school calendar if you want-" Kol smiled, knowing Niklaus wouldn't bother.

"Remember when Freya lived with us, Kol, we weren't questioned so much, because she knew about our lives."

"So true, dear sister. I miss the good old days when someone cared about us-"

"Right? Instead of constantly questioning and doubting-"

"Alright, Alright, you can both stop. I don't care. I need to go run some errands." He started to stalk out but just as he reached the door, he turned to glare at them.

"Don't think that just because Freya is gone...that you don't have someone that cares." With that, he left the two teenagers in mild shock.

"Was he...no…"

"I think he might like us, Kol"

The 15 year old gave his sister a grin. "Does that mean you're gonna try to be more accepting of this girl he's dating?"

"No! We are definitely making her life hell."

* * *

"This is an automated message from Tatia Academy. Kol Mikaelson missed classes 3 and 4 today. If you have any questions or need to excuse-"

Elijah hung up the phone. He'd received the same automated message for Rebekah a few minutes earlier. He couldn't decide if he was upset or amused. He should questioned them more about the reason for wanting to escape school today. Freya would have.

He was currently in the middle of writing a proposal for an expansion on his mother's company, but the truth was that his heart wasn't in it today. He was feeling overwhelmed, and he missed his older sister...and Finn. Elijah and his older brother hadn't always gotten along- It was strange. They were only 2 year apart, and maybe they should have been close, but Freya and Finn were even closer in age, and they'd been best friends from the moment Finn was born. They did everything together, and until Klaus had come along, he had just been the annoying little brother.

Finn was complicated, his _loyalty_ was complicated. Still, Elijah had grown close to him right before he passed away. Freya was about to get married, and Finn hadn't wanted to burden her with his problems, so instead he had burdened Elijah, and now the 25 year old man couldn't help but feel guilty that he hadn't been able to help his older brother.

* * *

After Hayley was released from her "Orientation", and after making sure that no one was around, she and the three younger Mikaelsons began taking instruments out of the closet and taking them out to the waiting van.

"So... this has been weird" Rebekah admitted, as she 'helped' by putting some drumsticks into the font seat. One of Hayley's bandmates was also helping, and Rebekah immediately noticed how handsome he was. It's true that her main conquest at the moment was cool guy Matt Donovan, and her heart's desire would always be Marcel, but she wasn't blind.

"Yeah...super weird. If it's too weird, I won't take the job-"

"You have to take the job, Hayley, you're so cool!" Henrik piped up, as he and Kol struggled with an audio speaker.

"Stay for a while, at least, Hayley, I know you wanted the cash- to travel right?" Kol asked as dropped the speaker into the van, making Hayley wince. Kol had been a fan of the band for a while, and though they were far from 'friends', she liked him enough that she had agreed to play at his devious party, the one that had landed them in this strange situation in the first place.

"Yeah...I just want to play music."

At that, her ride turned to her and smirked, "Well, how about going to practice, Hales, we're late!"

The woman groaned, but seeing how everything was packed and ready, she nodded.

"Oh, can I come Hayley? I'll be super quiet." Henrik interrupted, still annoyed that he hadn't gotten to hear any music the other night, having to distract Klaus.

"Oh...we don't normally have an audience at practice..."

"Actually" Rebekah interrupted, now eager to get out of the house for a while, "we make great groupies! _Can_ we come?"

"Ugh, count me out..." Kol started but his younger siblings immediately started begging him to join.

"Come on Kol, It'll be fun-It's not like you to skip out on fun!" Rebekah encouraged, and by the end of their conversation, Hayley didn't seem to have a choice on the matter, and she was suddenly excited to share her love with these crazy kids.

* * *

Caroline was wearing a light pink dress- the one that made her feel cute and sexy at the same time. She didn't know what she was doing. She had told Klaus Mikaelson a million times that she wasn't interested. They'd met in Art class their first year of College, and even then he'd had a reputation. She had a boyfriend at the time, not that it stopped Klaus from flirting, but now, as she saw how intently Klaus listened to Cami, the woman that his friend, Marcel, had brought to dinner, she surprised herself by feeling annoyed.

Camille was pretty, and even though she was hanging on to Marcel's arm, Caroline still felt the need to criticize her. She was wearing jeans and blue blouse- How boring!

"So, Cami, how long have you and Marcel been dating?" She asked, interrupting Camille from going on and on about her favorite book. Cami gave her a smile, though it was clear they didn't care for each other.

"It's been almost a year now. We volunteered together at a program for addicts... It was funny, I guess, I had a crush on the director-but he turned out to be gay."

Marcel chuckled at that, and admitted that he had noticed her the first day of the program. Klaus couldn't help but feel a bit envious, Marcel had always been well liked. Klaus' own father had liked Marcel better than his own son. Camille was an interesting woman, beautiful and confident, and she had fallen for Marcel.

Klaus didn't exactly have trouble finding beautiful women, but he had his fare share of rocky relationships under his belt, and Caroline... well he'd been chasing Caroline for over 4 years, and she still wouldn't give him the time of day.

* * *

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

A/N The Originals is back on T.V!... Not enough Kol or Rebekah. *grumbles*

Enjoy!

* * *

The Original Cinderella

Chapter 6

"Where have you two been all day?" Elijah stood up, carefully patting away some lint from his suit pants, and walking toward his missing siblings.

"The library"

"The homeless shelter"

The each said at the same time, which only made the older man quirk a brow. Rebekah frowned, she knew she should have made Henrik walk in with them, instead of letting him sneak into the kitchen. Elijah liked Henrik best-according to her.

"The library at the homeless shelter" Rebekah corrected, walking past Elijah to sit on the armrest of the sitting room couch.

"We were researching, Elijah."

"I wasn't aware that there was a Library at the homeless shelter…or that you two had any business there" The last part was muttered underneath his breath, as he wasn't sure he wanted to know the excuse they'd come up with.

"There is a Library! It's kind of amazing-" Kol admitted, as he grabbed Elijah's shoulders. "There's all this information on understanding poverty, and how we can make a difference." Elijah was about to respond, but Kol kept going.

"Oh, and there are books on Trauma, too, and how we can build up our resiliency, which helps us overcome really difficult challenges in our lives." He gave a grin, and let go, sitting next to Rebekah, whose smile widened.

She sometimes forgot how brilliant Kol Mikaelson could be. He acted like a good for nothing jerk most of the time, cheeky and rebellious, but he actually loved learning about people and the world around him. She often figured he was going to travel the world, leaving her behind. It was fine with her, because for all that she admired about her brother, her own dreams were to lead a perfectly boring life-with a man that loved her, and children she could raise and make to feel loved, and safe, like she never had.

"O...kay. That sound very interesting" He admitted, as he went to sit on the table in front of them. "The thing is, I don't like surprises. I don't like not knowing what you two are up to-"

"We're old enough to make our own choices, Elijah" Rebekah tried to remind him, but it only made her older brother panic a bit more.

"That's not really fair, Rebekah. I realize you're both growing up, I realize you're used to being on your own in a lot of ways, and I respect that you are both intelligent individuals, but you are not adults, and I need you to understand that. If you leave this house, you need to tell me where you're going."

The two tried to look away, knowing that the only acceptable answer was to agree, but they also hated feeling like they had no independence.

"This must be what jail feel like" Kol finally muttered, while Rebekah giggled.

"I don't intend to keep you my prisoners, Kol! Come on…" He said it, but even as the comment left his lips, he knew he was being a hypocrite. Life would be less complicated if he could just lock them up and keep them safe.

"Look, whether any of us like it, I am your legal guardian-"

"Well, when is Freya coming back?"

"She was much more pleasant, I agree, Kol."

"She has her own life, she has a marriage now…!" Elijah was getting impatient, but hadn't realized the implications of his words.

"Oh!? So when you marry you'll abandon us too? Are we that great of a burden!?" Kol yelled, angry now, but not nearly as angry as Rebekah.

"That's so unfair, Elijah! We didn't ask for our parents to die, and we didn't ask to be part of this beastly family! We didn't ask to stay with you! I could have been adopted by a nice family that would have loved me the way I deserve to be loved! I am a wonderful person!" She screamed, knowing she was being dramatic, but she honestly felt that way, she realized as she threw the pillow she had been holding, and ran upstairs.

"Kol…" Elijah tried again, hoping that he could smooth things over. "That's not what I meant, and you know it- be understanding. I'll...go talk to Rebekah."

"Don't bother, Elijah. She's crazy." Kol smirked, and turned away, he couldn't help focusing on the command in his brother's statement, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't hate Elijah for it.

* * *

Hayley stared at the plates in front of her. When she had agreed to help out around the house, keep an eye on the kid, drive the teenagers around...she hadn't expected her days to be filled washing dishes, yet here she was. She didn't really mind, not really. She loved her band, but the truth was that she was drowning in bills, and this had all seemed to just come together nicely for her. Still, she hated washing dishes.

"Ms. Marshall" Hayley turned so fast that the dish in her soapy hand slipped out, and landed on the floor, crashing.

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm so sorry! It just slipped-"

"Really, don't worry" He tried to calm her down as she hurriedly went and grabbed the broom, running back, only to slip on the wet floor, and as Elijah tried to catch her, she ended up smacking him with the broom.

"OH-I'm so sorry!" She apologized again, as her eyes widened, and he grabbed his forehead, where she had hit him.

"Ow...It's alright. Please don't worry."

"Let me get you some ice!" She turned to the fridge, only to trip over a shoelace, and as she started falling, Elijah, tried to catch her once again, only to slip, thanks to the still wet floor, and they both ended up on the floor, the older man on top of Hayley.

"...I am SO sorry." She mentally kicked herself, but made no effort to get up, surprised that he hadn't either, he simply stared at her.

"Perhaps you should stop apologizing." He finally whispered, but didn't get up. She was beautiful-and a pain, had Mary really hired her? She was a total klutz! They stared at each other for far longer than they should have, he knew, and he was sure there was a reason this was inappropriate, but he couldn't think of it. Not until someone else walked into the kitchen.

"Elijah, darling-"

Katherine Pierce stopped mid sentence as she walked into the kitchen to see her fiancee and some random woman laying on the floor. Henrik had mentioned a few days ago that there was a new employee working at "The Castle of Chaos", but Katherine hadn't expected someone so...young.

"Um…"

The two quickly stood up and brushed water off, letting her realize that they must have...slipped. Still, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

"What's this?" She glared at Hayley, fully letting the other woman know that Elijah belonged to her. He was going to help her live the life she always wanted, after all.

"This...is Hayley Marshall. Hayley, this is Katherine Pierce."

The two women kept staring, till finally, Hayley stuck out a hand. "Cool."

"Hello Hayley...are you…"

"Hayley is going to be helping Mary around the house, and with the kids, You know how they love driving Mary crazy…"

"Oh, so, you're what, the new nanny?"

Hayley stared at the the woman in front of her. She was beautiful. Long wavy locks of hair adorned her perfectly made up face. Her black dress was the right length to show of her legs, and the pearls around her neck had to be real. Hayley hated her instantly; not because of the way she looked so perfect, but rather because she was clearly looking down at her.

"Something like that. You must be the girlfriend. Rebekah mentioned you." What Rebekah had mentioned was that Katherine was the spawn of Satan, and by the displeased look on Katherine's face, she knew Rebekah had said nothing but awful truths.

"The Fiancee, actually. " With that, she turned and smiled at Elijah. "Elijah, let's go. Our reservation is for 6."

"Oh…" He looked at her adoring face, and remembered how much he loved her-even if he didn't always love her cold nature.

"Yes, Hayley, thanks again for all you do."

* * *

Hayley Marshall had been working for the Mikaelson family for almost 2 months- at first it had been a wild, spur of the moment decision, but after Mary had explained the free boarding, not to mention the salary, she was in. She loved her music, and that was where her heart was, but she had been really struggling for a moment there, she figured that she could work full time for the Mikaelsons for another 6-12 months, and then she'd have enough money to go on that music tour she'd always wanted to go on

It had been an interesting 6 weeks, she never knew how observant she was, but, either everyone in this family was completely oblivious to each other, or she had become more aware.

She noticed things. She noticed Niklaus, the handsome, strong willed brother, who needed to control everything and everyone around him, so much, so, that he pushed people away.

She noticed Rebekah, and how she felt that _she_ had zero control in her life, except for what went into her mouth, which was unsurprisingly very little. The 14 year old was fond of skipping breakfast.

She noticed Henrik- that sweet boy- who would often sneak off in the middle of night- he didn't go far, just outside into the spacious backyard, really. She had watched him one night, worried, but she was calmed when she saw that all he did was stare at the sky. He seemed to be waiting.

She noticed Kol, who was wild and disorderly, defiant...and who was waiting for someone to ask him to stop. Not in the way Klaus yelled and threatened him, or the way Elijah lectured and ordered, but truly waiting for someone to have a conversation with him.

Most of all, she noticed Elijah, who seemed to carry the world on his shoulders. He was overwhelmed-He was also a good man, probably the best man she'd ever known-he was a man who would soon be married, and she never stopped reminding herself of that.

To be Continued...


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you so much for everyone that has reviewed :) It's so sweet! Apologies for the super late update. My laptop is dead :(

I've been trying to get a new one, but...I'm honestly not sure when that will happen. I'm currently sneaking on to somebody else's computer. haha.

The other reason for my late update, I suppose, is that "The Originals" ... was such a disappointment in so many ways. I wanted it to be more about the siblings, and It just never really was. Anyway, that's why we have fan fiction, right? On to the chapter!

Also, sorry for making Katherine so horrible, I promise I love her, and she won't be "the big bad" of the whole story.

* * *

Hayley looked over at Kol, who was pointing to the chair next to him, and mouthing for her to sit down. She was mildly horrified, she was supposed to be working until after dinner, and here Kol was, trying to distract her.

"Kol, I'm helping in the kitchen..." She whispered, as she tried to walk past his chair.

"but dinner is so boring, come on, just sit down."

"I work here, I can't just-" he grabbed her hand and pulled her down, making her squeal, and earning her a look from Klaus, who was on the opposite side of the table, talking with his friend, Marcel.

On the opposite side of Kol, was Rebekah (texting) and Henrik (playing a video game on his Nintendo DS)

Elijah was at the end of the table, quietly chatting with Katherine. He too, looked up at the squeal.

"Are you alright, Ms. Marshall?"

"Hayley" She muttered, for the thousand time. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Well... can I get more wine?" Katherine asked her, voice full of contempt. It wasn't that she hated Hayley, but she did hate how all the kids seemed to gravitate towards her, in a way they had never done for her. She seriously felt like they could ruin her plans to marry Elijah, and that just would not do.

"Yeah, go get it." Kol told her, with a smile. "Hayley is my dinner guest."

Klaus was the first to roll his eyes at that, "Oh, and here I thought Hayley worked for Mary" He said, not wanting to implicate himself in that statement. It was clear that Mary worked for them, and so did Hayley.

"He's right, Kol, I should go see if she needs any help." Hayley laughed, awkwardly; while she was comfortable with the teenagers, the adults in the room didn't make it easy to adjust to her new employment.

"No, Hayley, stay, have some mashed potatoes" He encouraged, as he grabbed his spoon and pushed it into her mouth.

"You're so inaprop, Kol!" Rebekah gasped, but she was laughing about it. The dinner certainly had needed some livening up. Henrik was also on full alert now, wishing he'd brought his video camera.

Hayley's first instinct was to push Kol, but she realized that might be...too much. Instead, she took the spoon out of her mouth, and glared at him. "Kol!"

"I'm pretty sure that's workplace harassment" Marcel piped up, as Niklaus just shook his head. He wondered if _he_ should say something, but by the looks of it, Elijah was preparing a speech.

"That..."

"Hayley, I'm so sorry" Elijah finally said, and then turned to his younger brother. "What are you doing, Kol?! You need to-"

"You're right! That was so, so wrong. Hayley, I'm sorry. I'm just...wildly attracted to you."

"Kol!"

The 15 yr old tried not to roll his eyes, it's like everyone wanted him to live the most boring life. He considered one more joke, but the adults at the table didn't seem to be growing any funny bones, so instead he shrugged at Hayley and apologized.

"I'm just gonna go back to work, have a lovely dinner everyone" She muttered as she slipped away. She was definitely ready for a night out.

"Why are you so weird?" Rebekah asked him in a whisper, she was done with dinner, but since the plate still looked full, she knew she wouldn't be excused. She was trying to "slyly" put food on Kol's plate.

"I'm just bored. We should go out tonight." He whispered back, moving his plate closer to hers. He didn't really care if she "didn't eat enough", he figured she knew what she was doing. It was her life.

"No... I want to stick around."

"Cause Marcel is spending the weekend? Gross Bex. Gross"

"Grow up, you just harassed the nanny!" She shook her head, that was a little louder than she'd meant. Henrik was now moving his chair closer to them.

"Hey, are you guys planning anything? I have this assignment where I have to make a 5 minute movie, and you guys would be the perfect stars. Nothing illegal"

"Ew, Henrik, I'm not going to be in your nerdy video."

"I'll do it, baby brother. We could..." Kol smiled, thinking of all the possibilities. "We could go to the Haunted Circus!"

At the suggestion, Henrik and Rebekah both shuddered. They weren't fans of the haunted attractions in their town, and clowns were just horrifying.

"No, thanks. I don't want to die"

"Come on, Henrik, It'll be amazing, live a little!"

"What are you three whispering about?" Marcel asked, having heard the last part of their conversation.

"Oh, we're just... planning on going to the movies. It _is_ a Saturday" The youngest Mikaelson covered, already knowing that Kol had made up his mind, and they'd definitely be going to a haunted attraction tonight.

"Hey, we are too, maybe we can all go together" Klaus piped up, knowing that Henrik was lying. He knew they'd deny his offer, which he was planning on, since he, Marcel, Camille and Caroline were all going to the movies.

"That sounds great!" Rebekah was the one to agree, which mildly surprised him. Marcel just groaned. He wasn't blind or stupid, he knew that Rebekah liked him. She was feisty, and beautiful and sweet, and he only, rightfully, saw her as his best friend's little sister.

"Oh, I was just kidding. You're not invited" Klaus shrugged, as he got up from the table, Marcel following him.

"Hey, we're going out, see you guys later!" He waved at Katherine and Elijah, who nodded back. They were in the middle of their own conversation, and plan. Katherine wanted to go dancing; Elijah wanted to go upstairs.

"Come on Elijah, we haven't gone out in so long!" She whined, and he knew he had no choice. She would be in a bad mood for the rest of the weekend if she didn't get her way. He loved Katherine, she was a beauty, but she also had a personality that was hard to deal with at times.

"Alright, alright. We'll go, but only for a few hours, does that sound good?"

She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, before getting up, and announcing she was going upstairs to change. When she left, he finally noticed the three younger Mikaelsons, whispering...plotting?

"I'm assuming none of you have any plans to go out?" It was a weird statement. He meant it as a genuine concern, but he realized it came off as a bit threatening.

"Nope, I'm going to go do homework!" Henrik piped up, giving him his best 'I'm an angel' smile.

"I'm going to shop online, and wallow in my misery" Rebekah muttered, still annoyed that Marcel and Klaus had left. When would Marcel realize she was becoming a woman?

"Oh...kay" Elijah nodded, starting to stand up, but not before giving Kol a look. "Well?"

"I'm probably gonna sneak out, hang out with this new girl I met, summon some witches, and-"

"Okay, have fun." Elijah stopped him, annoyed by Kol's constant sarcastic comments. He knew Mary would keep an eye on them. When Elijah was finally out of ear shot, Henrik turned to his older siblings.

"So...haunted circus?"

"Yeah. Oh, I did meet this girl, Davina, she's tagging along."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, annoyed that Kol was suddenly into some new girl. "That weird girl? She has the ugliest hair..."

"Well you have an ugly face, so you should get along great with-" He didn't finish his thought, because the blond beauty was suddenly trying to choke him. He really should learn to keep his mouth shut.

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

Apologies for the late update...I am still without a computer. My brother did actually take my laptop, and fixed it, but I think I accidentally told him he could give it to a relative of ours who lives out of the country, and is currently trying to finish school. She doesn't have a computer, and so It seemed like the decent thing to do. I do have a work laptop (and work Ipad/keyboard...) but I'm paranoid that my boss is gonna look into my activities and realize I write fanfiction. Yikes. Haha!

Alright, jokes aside, here is the Chapter 8!

* * *

Hayley stared at the dish in front of her, why was it that her life revolved around dishes? Putting them away, setting them out, washing them, drying them... It was never ending torture.

When she put the last one in to the dishwasher, she turned and sat at the table. It was late, and quiet, and it's when she liked this house the best. Of course all the comings and goings were interesting, but she really just loved to hear the house breathe, feeling that she somehow belonged to a family now, even if that was a silly thought.

She was deciding whether she should go into the media room and watch t.v. for a bit, or if she should just go to bed, when she heard footsteps. She felt like the dumbest woman in the world when she hoped it was Elijah, she felt even worse when her heart started beating faster, as she realized it _was_ him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which took her breath away and made her hate herself. He was in dark sweatpants, and the sheer casualness made him seem years younger.

"Hayley..."

She didn't know what to say, there was this stupid, forbidden attraction, she felt it deep inside of her, where she tried to bury it. She knew the feelings were not reciprocated, and she knew that he was engaged to Katherine Pierce, the most beautiful woman Hayley had ever seen.

"Oh, sorry... I was just cleaning."

"Cleaning? Hayley, despite what Mary may say to you, I promise you're not a slave" He said, with mild humor. "You don't need to be cleaning at this hour."

She let herself smirk, and scrunch her brows together, a twitch that did not go unnoticed by the Mikaelson. "Yes, I know, and I did go out tonight, I guess I just like cleaning in the evening. I'm not really a morning person."

"The early bird catches the worm, I've heard"

At that, she rolled her eyes. He was so stoic with his humor.

"And the late cat eats the early bird" She muttered, at his quiet laugh, she finally looked into his eyes. He really was something. He was always busy, organized, strict, quiet...but underneath it all, there was this incredibly loyal man. She found him so intriguing.

"I didn't know you could laugh, Mr. Mikaelson"

"Well, clearly you don't know me very well Ms. Marshall" Elijah was fascinated by her. She was kind and fierce, and always up to something. He had gone into the kitchen to grab a glass of water, but now he just wanted to stay in the moment forever. The house was dark, he could see the moon through the window behind Hayley, and he couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked.

"Clearly. Is there something...you needed?" She asked, wondering what Mary would do in this situation. Elijah had this horrible habit of making her feel like she wasn't _just_ the help.

"Just a glass of water, which I can get myself. You should go rest." He admitted, hating that it sounded like he was sending her away.

"Well, I should probably check on your siblings, last I heard they were going to some haunted house, or something ridiculous like that." She chuckled, at the memory of Kol trying to get her to go with them.

At that, Elijah's eyes widened, before filling with dread. "What? I didn't think they were going out tonight, they didn't say, I was with Katherine all night, I should have check-"

"You should _relax_. Elijah, the world isn't gonna end if you're not on top of everything. Mary let them go, it sounded very innocent, and I'm sure they've been home for hours, I just have morbid curiosity or something, I'm sorry If I freaked you out."

The man made sure to breathe several times before nodding, sitting next to her, and speaking again. "You're right, Hayley. I don't know why I do this to myself. Ever since Freya left...it just feels like I don't really have anyone to do this with...and it's hard."

Hayley tried not to get all hot and bothered by the fact that this was probably the closest they'd ever been, and she made herself concentrate on his statement.

"I honestly can't even imagine. I've never...had anyone, no one to care about me, but also no one to care for. I don't know how you do it."

"Well, what am I doing? It feels like I'm ruining their lives. Klaus is no help, you've seen him, he's never around, and he's just so self centered..."

"but you love him best?" Hayley joked, though she knew there was some truth to her statement. The brothers, despite being so different, definitely always had each others' back. They were close.

"It's not that, but... I guess...Freya and Finn were always so close. I was definitely that annoying little brother that neither wanted to hang out with, and so, when Klaus was born, I decided he and I were going to be best friends forever."

"Very ride or die" She joked, and to her surprise, she was gifted with another smile.

"Very. I'm sorry, I'm boring you with all of this" He said, and started to get up, but to both of their surprise, she held his hand and pulled him back into his chair.

"You're not boring."

Elijah looked into her eyes, and breathed hard, this wasn't right. This wasn't right at all, and he wasn't going to kiss her. He wasn't going to kiss her because if nothing else, he was honorable, and engaged. He wasn't going to kiss her, even though every part of his body wanted him to.

"I should go check on the kids" He finally said, and she immediately let go.

"Oh, yeah, definitely. I'll...I'll..."

"Come with me? Morbid curiosity, right?"

"Right." As they got up and started towards the stairs, she tried to think of perfectly reasonable topic of conversation. She didn't feel very reasonable when she was with him.

"So, when is Freya coming back?"

"She and Mathias are due in next week" Elijah smiled at the thought, he was finally going to relax a bit. As they reached Henrik's room, he allowed himself to think about all the free time he'd have once his older sister was back home, running everything in the way only she could.

"Well, I hope she likes me, I kind of like this job-" Hayley admitted as Elijah opened the door. It wasn't immediate dread that she felt, when the room was empty. She was sure Henrik was in Kol's room. Or Rebekah's. Or Klaus'?

She did feel Elijah's mood quietly darken, as he hurried to Rebekah's room. Empty. He walked faster to Kol's. Empty.

He tried not to panic, and he even had the clarity to be thankful for the comforting squeeze that Hayley gave his shoulder.

"They must be...with Klaus" She tried to comfort, but even to her, he words seemed like lies.

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you all who reviewed the last chapter, it really does brighten up my day.

Two things- 1. yay! I finally have my laptop back :D

2\. I had the hardest time writing this chapter, and when I was finally getting there, the last part got deleted and I had to write it again...ugh...please be kind.

3\. (Did I say two, I meant three...) This chapter ended up being so long. ugh. ugh. Chapter 9, whyyyyy. :(

Chapter 9.

 _A few hours earlier-_

"You shouldn't have brought Henrik, Kol! He's just a little kid!"

"He's a Mikaelson, Bex, he can handle anything...plus, I worry that he doesn't have any friends."

The blond teenager softened at that, as she nodded and held on to her brother's arm. "You're right. I do worry about him, I mean he's always playing his dumb video games."

"I'm right here" the 10 year old muttered, behind his two obnoxious siblings. The two teenagers were so dumb and careless that he could argue that he was doing _them_ a favor.

"Look, there's Davina!" Kol shouted, excited, as he saw the 14 year old girl appear from the crowds of the haunted attraction. She was wearing a white dress, her dark hair decorating her face, and he was sure he'd never seen a prettier sight. She ran towards him, and he ran towards him, only stopping when she saw who was next to her. Jeremy Gilbert.

Davina kept going, unaware of the tension, and gave the young man a hug.

"Hey Kol!" She turned to see his siblings, she didn't know the little one, but he looked enough like the family that she assumed. She knew Rebekah quite well, they were in 3 of the same classes, physical education, art, and math. Rebekah was horrible to the teachers and had a bit of a reputation. She liked older men and would fight you if you looked at her wrong.

"Hi Rebekah" The dark haired girl tried, but was immediately met with an eye roll.

"Really, Kol? Ugh...you could do better" She whispered, but everyone heard her.

Her younger brother nudged her, but everyone else chose to ignore her, sometimes it was better that way.

"So!" Davina went on, "Jeremy, this is-"

"Rebekah, Kol, and Henrik. Yeah...I know."

"Oh, you know each other?"

"Yeah..." Kol answered, still holding on to Davina protectively, " His sister is marrying our brother-"

"Half sister" Jeremy quickly corrected, not a fan of the demanding and manipulative Katherine. He had never liked the Mikaelsons, and was upset and shocked that his girlfriend had somehow met and befriended his least favorite one; Kol. Jeremy walked closer to them, grabbing on to Davina's hand and pulling her a little.

"Small world..."

"Super small, should we go in baby?" He asked, and even to him it sounded out of place, he had just been dating Davina for two weeks, and he'd never called her a pet name before.

As the two headed the group, Rebekah couldn't help but laugh, as she turned to her little brother.

"So, bet? 20 dollars on Kol killing that poor boy in the next hour..."

The younger boy laughed as they headed in, "More like 30 minutes..."

* * *

The haunted attraction was not what Henrik had expected. It was genuinely terrifying, and he'd somehow gotten an allergic reaction from the last room they'd been in. Rebekah and Kol had rushed him to the nearest store to buy benadryl, while Jeremy and Davina had headed home. The the three siblings were sitting, defeated on the curb. Rebekah had lost her cell phone in the haunted house, Kol's had run out of battery and they were all currently miserable.

"My face looks terrible" Henrik muttered, as he gave Rebekah her compact mirror back. He had small bumps all over, but thankfully they were slowly shrinking.

"Just drink more benadryl" The oldest boy answered, as he laid down on the sidewalk. It was pretty dark, and he knew they should be heading home, but he also knew that he didn't really know how they had gotten to the store; they had all been panicked, and neither was great at directions; they usually had a driver take them wherever they needed to go. This time, they had lied to Mary and told her that Klaus had invited them to the movies, and that they were going with him. He knew, eventually, his lies would blow up in his face, but he hadn't expected to be out so late.

"Ummm...I don't think that's how it works" Rebekah piped up, annoyed that she wasn't currently warm in her bed.

"So.." Henrik started as he looked at his clueless siblings, "should we start walking home?"

"Yeah...do you remember which way...?"

The boy laughed, how did these two even survive? "Yeah, the haunted house is just 5 minutes away...that way" He pointed to the left, and got up, he wanted to get home soon, and hated not knowing what time it was. "This is why I should be allowed to have a phone, you guys are so irresponsible with your stuff"

"I'm too tired to argue, let's just go!" Rebekah shrieked, she was completely exasperated.

* * *

They had been walking for a short 4 minutes when they noticed the streets get even darker, that is until they got to the parking lot of the now less crowded haunted house parking lot. Some workers were there, young, drunk, and dancing around one of the trucks.

Rebekah's stomach tensed, and she protectively stood in front of her little brother.

"Maybe we should go around" She whispered to Kol, who would have agreed, except his feet hurt and he was still annoyed that Davina was dating Jeremy Gilbert, of all people.

"Why?"

"Because those idiots look drunk, and we don't need any problems!" She yelled, which in retrospect was a mistake, as that got the attention of two of the girls who were dancing.

"Oh look, little kids. Little kids, do you want to come play?" One of them, a blond with tiny shorts, yelled out, giggling.

"Go home" Kol whispered to her, suddenly alert to their current situation. "Just go around, right now."

Rebekah grabbed Henrik's arm, ready to run, but not willing to run away and leave Kol behind. She stayed where she was.

"Bex, I can handle it, okay, I promise- Klaus will never forgive me if something happens to you" They always joked about how she was their older brother's favorite. She _was._..but she still wasn't going to let Kol deal with these morons on his own.

"We're not leaving, right Hen?"

"Right." Henrik confirmed, though his heart did start beating faster as he noticed the blonde girl and her... boyfriend? Start to walk toward them. He counted 6 of them. 2 girls, and 4 very large guys.

"Rebekah." He said it with an authority she had never known him to possess. "I will never forgive _myself_ if something happens to you guys, okay?" He softened, and she found it to be the most endearing thing in the world.

"And did it ever occur to _you_ , that I could never forgive myself if I left you here? You're my brother, Kol, you idiot. We stick together." She was determined, if nothing else; by then, the couple had reached them.

"Oh come on, we won't hurt you" The man slurred, smiling. The young woman-they looked like like they were in their early 20's, was reaching towards Rebekah to try and touch her hair. Kol put himself in between them.

"Yeah, that sounds like something a creeper would say."

The two laughed, and the blond wrapped herself around Kol now. "You're so funny, such a funny boy...kiss me funny, cute boy" She giggled out, and immediately the man stopped laughing.

"Get the _fuck_ off-"

"What the hell!"

The three Mikaelson siblings looked back, immediately relieved to see Elijah and Klaus, sure, they looked furious, but at least they were no longer alone with these drunk, possibly drugged adults.

Elijah stormed toward them, and it was almost funny, because he was usually always so irritatingly calm and collected. This Elijah was neither.

The three youngest Mikaelson's looked horrified and amused, and the amused part made Elijah even more furious, Klaus was next to him, and he was the perfect example of someone who would never change. He looked like he was ready to kill someone.

"We have been running around for hours looking for you!" Klaus yelled, and when he was within arm's reach, the oldest Mikaelson held him back; maybe they were holding each other back, it really was mysterious.

The blond woman officially backed off, and the two started walking away.

"Next time keep your stupid kids on a damn leash!" the man yelled, as he pulled the blond away, cursing at her about what a 'whore' she was.

"It was my fault" Kol immediately admitted, because it was, right? He was always up to something, and Bex and Henrik just went along, and what would have happened if his brothers hadn't come along?

"Why am I not surprised?" Klaus asked, hatefully. He was upset, but still, he didn't see it coming. Elijah took a step forward, killing the space between them, raised his hand, and slapped the boy.

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: A million thank you's to those that reviewed/alerted/faved this story. You make my day!

Chapter 10

The car ride was unusually quiet, Rebekah thought, as she watched rain drops fall on the car window. She followed a drop with her eyes, watched it melt into another drop and go down...  
She concentrated hard on the drop, and even put her finger on the cool glass window, following it until it disappeared. How appropriate that it was raining-it matched the mood. She was angry and hurt, and her attempt to hold her brother's hand, who was in the middle seat, told her that he felt the same. He recoiled at her touch, making her feel all the more hurt, but she couldn't exactly blame him. Her oldest brothers had been so harsh on him. On all of them, really, but especially on Kol.

She knew him well, and didn't always side with him. There were certain advantages in siding with her older brothers, after all, but she was aware of many things. One of them being that they were a dysfunctional family, and who was to blame?

Kol Mikaelson, sitting in between his younger brother and sister, let his mind wander a bit to the night's events. He didn't think he had been wrong, at all, and maybe that's why he was angry now, and planning to run away. Okay, maybe not, but he was definitely leaving the manor as soon as he turned 18. He was going to travel, and none of his siblings were invited, he decided, as he once again scooted away from Rebekah. She kept trying to reassure him, or some shit, and he didn't feel like being comforted.

It had hurt when Elijah hit him, he would expected something like that from Klaus, who was temperamental and brash, and didn't care about consequences. Even Freya would have slapped him, because even though she was nice and understanding, and fair, she would eventually get sick of his "disrespectful attitude"- It was a thing. Elijah on the other hand didn't really pay enough attention to him to _get_ that mad. It left Kol feeling very much unwanted in his own family.

With those thoughts, he hadn't noticed Henrik, sweet, perfect little Henrik lean in to him. Henrik was always on everybody's side. He encouraged them, and in return he was everybody's favorite, and maybe Kol would have been jealous, but he wasn't. He saw the wonder in his little brother as well. So, when the 10 year old leaned in to him, and whispered,

"Just remember, it could be worse, you could be bitch-ass Jeremy Gilbert."

The 15 year old, despite the night's events, his anger and hurt, laughed. Out loud, and he didn't stop, even when Klaus told him to 'Shut the hell up!'

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson trudged to his bedroom, hoping that Katherine wouldn't be awake. He loved his fiancee, and he certainly adored her body and how well it fit into his, but he was _tired_ and Katherine wasn't known for asking for his well being, or even caring how he felt, she worried more about her needs.

She was selfish and impatient, and he wanted to make her happy. He wasn't blind to her 'defects', but the truth was that he had been much more broken when they had met. She had been more innocent at the time, and she had helped heal him. Time had made her colder, and he didn't blame her. She was not at fault for the circumstances of her life.

With these thoughts, he pushed his bedroom door, only to find Katherine, wide awake, and on her cellphone. She didn't look up, not when he muttered out that he was going to shower, not when he came out, half naked, and not when he climbed into bed. It used to bother him, but lately he had found someone else to talk to. He frowned at that; at the thought of how much he enjoyed his awkward conversations with Hayley Marshall.

"Did you find the little 'darlings'?" She finally asked, not putting her phone down. She was taking pictures, and Elijah had to drown at that voice inside himself questioning who exactly the pictures were for.

"The little 'darlings' are safe and sound. I didn't get the whole story, I'm pretty sure I don't have the patience for it, so I told them we'd talk in the morning."

"Or, you know, you could just send them to boarding school" She laughed, finally putting the phone and turning to him. Katherine saw Elijah's frown, and immediately amended, "I'm joking. When is Freya getting back?" The question wasn't innocent, she was dying for the eldest Mikaelson to come home and take the brats out of her hair. She didn't want them ruining her wedding or her new life as 'Mrs. Mikaelson'.

"I don't know, Katherine, she's...enjoying being married. It doesn't seem right that we just want her to come back and deal with all the messes around here!" The last part had been said in a tone that was much too harsh, he knew it, not only by the tension in his body, but also by the glare his fiancee was now giving him.

"Okay, first of all, you don't get to yell at _me_!" She barked, actually getting out of bed and throwing the blankets on him. He was startled, though not entirely sure about what he had been expecting.

"I happen to want to be happily married too, and I _don't_ understand why your happiness has to be clouded by whatever the hell happens to your bratty brothers and your b-" She stopped herself, knowing that calling Rebekah a 'bitch', no matter how justified, would only lead into making her the bad guy, and she was not the bad guy! She felt all the indignation of a victim start to swallow her whole.

"Ugh, never mind, whatever, deal with your problems and then get back to me if you still want to get married!" She yelled, and started to stomp off, but not before Elijah jumped out of bed, and gently grabbed her wrist. He was confused, he hadn't expected the sudden burst of anger, but maybe Katherine had a point...

"Katerina..." He had always been great at smoothing things over with her, doing what she wanted, and pretending to be happy, but for some reason, he couldn't think of anything now, all he could do was watch as Katherine's frown deepened.

"I'm going home, Elijah. I refuse to marry someone who has a million priorities above me." Was the sentence, as she left, with a slam of the door. The man she left standing alone, continued to stand, trying to figure out what exactly it was that he felt.

To Be Continued...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Rebekah Mikaelson tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep, and instead, thinking about the night's event, about how twisted, and awful her family was, how sick of it she was, and yet, couldn't do anything about it. The blonde teenager also thought about stupid Marcel, and how he was dating Camille. _Camille._

"That bitch!" The girl yelled, a little too loudly, she realized, when a few minutes later, there was a knock on her door. A glance at the clock on her night stand, revealed that it was past 3 in the morning, which meant it could be only one person.

"Little brother!" She squealed, pulling Kol in to her bedroom, and plopping down on her bed. She was glad he'd come to his senses and decided to get over his 'mood'.

"I'm _not_ your little brother, Bex." Was the grumbled response from the boy. He was annoyed by his sister's choice in sleepwear. It was a pink silk nightgown, one that she'd bought with her birthday party, and that all her brothers disapproved of.

"No, but you're immature and daft."

"That...whatever" He shrugged as he went over and sat on the edge of her bed. He didn't want to talk to her, he didn't want to be coddled, or made to feel forgiving, but there was something he wanted from his dear sister. A certain bottle of pills he happened to know she kept hidden in the third drawer of her dresser, hidden in a box, underneath all her nasty, trashy lingerie. It was a pretty safe hiding place, he had to admit.

"I know what you want" She chirped, recognizing the way he kept looking at her dresser. It hadn't been her best moment, she had to admit, when she bought a few drugs from a friend, of a friend. It had been especially stupid to show her irresponsible older brother, but they weren't addicted! They really weren't. Sure, there was the time she took too many and blacked out, and the time...

"Well, If you know what I want, hand it over!" Kol demanded, finally, not actually willing to touch his sister's underwear to get the drugs. He'd long ago decided that that was the way he'd measure his level of addiction.

"I don't know, I'm running low..."

"You can always get more..." He pleaded with his eyes, and she had to admit that he had a pretty good 'puppy dog eyes' look. Not as good as hers, but still. She was impressed. The 14 year old blond walked over to her dresser, shifted through some bras, grabbed her blue music box, opened it gently to find her precious bottle, and tossed it to the boy.

"You should split in half." She muttered, sparing a look at her irresponsible older brother. ' _He looks so sad'_. He was always so jovial and cheeky. She often forgot he was actually overly sensitive.

"Split it in half, Kol Mikaelson."

At that, his cheeky smile made an appearance, as he eyed the white pill with mirth. "Only if you take the other half, baby sister."

* * *

Hayley woke up with a start, her alarm clock _always_ woke her up. It was always far too early, and she always hated it, but this morning her body actually felt recovered, and sunshine was coming in through her windows.

"OhnoOhnoOhno..." She grumbled, as she tossed the covers and practically sprinted over to her phone, to check the time. 10 am. _Hell._

The brunette grabbed her hair in a quick ponytail, threw on yesterday's outfit, and decided to simply brush her teeth, before rushing to the kitchen, where she just knew Mary would be waiting to murder her. Or fire her. Instead, what she found, in the ridiculously large kitchen was a pair of blonde siblings, and although she'd never met the oldest Mikaelson, she'd seen enough pictures. _Freya_.

"Uh..." She stopped awkwardly, unsure of what to say, annoyed by the roll of the eyes that Klaus had gifted her, and feeling out of place. Why had her alarm clock not gone off?

"Hello? You must be Hayley" The young, beautiful blonde stated, with a quick smile. _'That's weird, nobody else in her family is this nice...well, maybe Henrik'_ She thought, as she nodded dumbly. Klaus finally started laughing.

"Yes, dear sister, this _is_ Hayley, the worst help we've ever had. She doesn't know how to wash laundry, and she continually gets lost. I have no idea why Mary hired her." At that, the young brunette turned to him and glared. He was the absolute rudest boy she'd ever met, it was like his whole life mission was to get punched in the face.

"Well Niklaus, I suppose you could learn to wash your own clothes." Freya snarked, giving Hayley a wink, endearing herself to the younger woman immediately.

"Elijah mentioned you were coming back in a week, Mrs..."

"Oh, just Freya." The woman laughed, and Hayley was once again, captivated. "I wasn't going to come back for a few more months, in all honesty, but as soon as I heard that the little hellions were missing, I rushed home. I was so worried!" That last part was said with an accusation, as she turned to Klaus, who simply shrugged. He refused to be held accountable.

"I know what you mean, I couldn't sleep until Elijah texted me last night, and-"

"Oh, well, isn't this a brilliant piece of information. I didn't realize you and Elijah were texting buddies."

The blush that crept up her face was inevitable, and again, she cursed her alarm clock. Where was Mary? Where was anybody to come save her from this awful meeting with the blondes?

" _Klaus! "_ The oldest Mikaelson tried to scold, but knew it was a lost cause when it came to Niklaus, he simply gave her a glare in return.

"Whatever. I'm going out." He jumped off the counter he had been sitting on, walking past Hayley, and whispering dangerously.

"Your texting buddy is probably feeling lonely. Oh, and it's your day off. How very convenient."

 _Sunday. It's Sunday._ Hayley finally realized, wanting to crawl into a dark hole. She could have slept in longer. She could have showered and dressed in clean clothes, and made a good impression on Freya Mikaelson- or whatever her new last name was. She, wait...

"Lonely?"

At her question, Klaus laughed again, but didn't stop to elaborate, so there she was. With Freya, who was most likely going to fire her.

"Hayley, I know it's your day off, but maybe we could have a chat, a bit later? Maybe...when you've showered?"

"Oh fuck, I mean-haha, sorry! Yeah, I'm just gonna go. " 'drown myself in the pool' Hayley thought, as she rushed up the stairs to her bedroom.

* * *

'Please call me back' Elijah stared at the text message and wondered if he should send it. He'd tried calling Katherine all morning, without a response. The morning had not gone well, he and Klaus had picked up Freya from the airport; she'd been less than thrilled with them.

Henrik had breakfast with the three, but had stated that Kol and Rebekah were on a 'strike' from the family, and would not be joining them. It had been stupid, and Klaus had wanted to go upstairs to tell them off, but Freya had stopped him.

No wonder Katherine was sick of it, he understood her frustrations, but for whatever reason, couldn't bring himself to hit the 'send' button. Instead, he walked around the house, noticing that somebody had flattened the rose bushes with a bicycle. Henrik? Elijah kept walking, finding himself by the pool, where Hayley Marshall stood, staring.

She was the oddest creature he'd ever met. Her hair was wet, she wore jeans, a black t-shirt with some band's logo on the front, biting her pouty lips, deep in concentration. Until, of course, he managed to catch her attention. They stood there, on opposite sides of the pool, staring.

It seemed like an eternity, before the young woman finally opened her mouth, and then simply laughed, when she could think of nothing to say.

"I don't think that's the appropriate swimming attire" He helped, giving her an easy smile.

"You're wearing a suit. You can't possibly make fun of me."

She had a point, he knew, and continued to stare. Why was it that she captivated him? Hayley made things easy, and he, for whatever reason, wanted to keep her safe.

"True. What are you doing out here?"

"Contemplating drowning myself. I met Freya. I don't think I made the best impression."

"Well" He walked around, getting closer to her, stopping before it became uncomfortably close. He needed to keep his distance. "If it makes you feel better, when I first met you-I thought you were...I don't know, a crazy person."

"And now it's been confirmed?" She laughed, taking two steps forward, even if she knew she shouldn't. Klaus' comment was on her mind. 'He's lonely', 'He's lonely', 'He's lonely'...

"Now, I see you."

His eyes were always so full of confidence, but now they softened, and Hayley felt her heart flutter. Actual flutter. It made her angry, and sad, and happy...

"Please don't say pretty things to me, Elijah Mikaelson. I...I might fall in love with you." She joked, or at least tried to, but her laugh was awkward and insecure, and he didn't laugh at all, instead took a step forward, to kill the empty space between them, and kissed her.

He kissed her hard, and soft, and she was home. Hayley didn't think, she refused to, instead she kissed him back, and all was right with the world.

To be continued...

* * *

A/N: Thank you so, so much to any, and every review/alert/fav on this story. It means so much to me that anyone would enjoy this little story of mine.

I, of course, don't own The Originals, but enjoy the family so much. I'm still pondering my feelings as to the finale, what did you all think of it? I will definitely NOT be killing of Hayley in MY fan fiction. Haha!

On another little note: I purposely didn't mention the name of the drug that Kol/Bex took as I don't want to sensationalize any inaprop drug use...anyway.

Oh, also, I don't want to sensationalize cheating either, haha. Oi. So much drama to come with Hayley/Elijah/Katherine

Please Review :)


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you so, so much for all the wonderful reviews! Hope you enjoy this update :)

Also, didn't have time to edit this chapter, so please excuse any spelling/grammar errors.

Chapter 12

"I'm so sorry!" She pulled away, hard, ignoring the fact that Elijah _was_ the best kisser. "That was so wrong of me!"

He looked at her, dazed almost, confused and horrified, as the young woman tried to convince herself that this was a nightmare. She turned around, but not before the handsome man in front of her grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"No, wait. Hayley, I'm the one that's sorry"

It was a mistake. It was such a mistake. She could see that, he was obviously going through something and she had kissed him! Wait. Hayley paused. _He_ had kissed her.

"Why...why did you do it?"

"You don't waste words, do you?" He asked, trying to find the humor, but also feeling confused. He couldn't deny how he felt about Hayley. This was real, and it felt good, it felt...so good.

"Not when I feel like I'm missing information. You're engaged, Elijah."

"I know I am. I abhor the fact that I just betrayed Katherine-" There it was, Hayley thought, letting herself feel sad. He might have been attracted to her, but he regretted the kiss. He could read the thoughts on her mind, and quickly went on.

"-I hate that I put you in this position, but, I _want_...I _want_ to know you Hayley." The truth spoken, allowed him to instantly see his truth. He wanted to know and kiss, and be with the woman in front of him.

"..." She, while flattered and blown away, couldn't form words. What was he saying?

"I need to break things off with Katherine, and I don't mean to put that on you, things with her have been off for a long time."

That, Hayley could believe, Katherine was a wild beauty, who didn't seem to care about anyone but herself, much preferring to isolate Elijah, and if not him, at least his credit card. Hayley had seen the demands the woman made on him, her newest one had been a bigger closet, and so Elijah had built it for her. The closet was bigger than Hayley's room, and she remembered thinking that Katherine was the most spoiled woman. Now, now that's all she could think of, as Elijah talked on about how things had gotten to this point.

The two talked, as they walked around the gardens, they talked about they favorite music, and food, and places they wanted to visit. Hayley laughed, and smiled, feeling like the happiest girl in the world as they sat on one of the benches and he held her hand.

"Thank you for listening, Hayley" He finally said, knowing that they should go inside.

"Elijah... I want to know you too, I hope that's clear." She cleared her throat, "However, I will not kiss you again, until you are a free man."

"And I will not kiss you, Ms. Marshall, until I am a free man." He gave her a smile, one so honest that he found it odd on his countenance. How long had it been since he'd smiled like that? He was going to break up with Katherine today, no matter what. "Which will be tonight. So, I propose this; we have dinner together tonight."

"I want to Elijah, but... this is a big decision you're making, you should probably take some time-"

"Hayley. How can we get to know each other if we won't have dinner with me? Come on, no strings, I promise. Just two adults having dinner."

"Just dinner?" They'd had dinner together plenty of times! Oh wait, no, that was actually just her serving him and his family dinner.

"Just dinner."

"Okay. Just...dinner." She couldn't help it, she gave him what felt like the biggest smile she'd ever given anyone.

* * *

Elijah walked back into the house, making his way into his office, and was surprised to find his older sister and younger brother seemingly waiting for him. Freya was sitting in his chair, giving him a smirk, while Klaus stood by the window not sparing a glance.

"So much to talk about, Elijah" she commented, laughing gently, and pointing to the chair in front of her.

"I'd rather not, sister." He admitted, but took a seat anyway. There was much to talk about, like how 3 years of obligations was really starting to get to all of them.

"Yeah, Freya, you've been off honeymooning with your husband, you don't get to judge"

"No judging, Klaus, I promise. I'm just worried about this family! We're not making it." Freya had promised herself she wouldn't lose them, not after what happened to her parents, to Finn, how much was a person supposed to be able to take?

"It's not perfect, but we're all here." Elijah started, trying to comfort his older sister, but the truth was, he was beginning to envy Hayley, who had no family at all. What _would_ that be like? "We're all sticking it out."

"Okay, but is that what life should be about? 'Sticking it out?'. Nobody's happy! Not you two, certainly not Rebekah and Kol-"

"Rebekah and Kol need to grow up!" Klaus growled out, now, walking over so that he was next to Elijah and in front of Freya, yeah, that was fair. Freya thought, annoyed that _those_ two were always on each other's side. It made her miss Finn all the more.

"I think they're trying to, Klaus, high school is not easy, and what about Henrik? Henrik is still just a child, and- have we made a mistake?" She couldn't finish, as tears welled up in her eyes, she had wanted so badly to be the head of their family. She had wanted to keep them together, but now? Now she wanted something more...

"Maybe it was wrong of us-of _me_ to insist we all stay together. Maybe we-"

"What are you saying, Freya? 4 of us were adults when mom and dad died, and even if we hadn't been, we _would_ have stayed together. We're family!"

"Yeah, no matter how annoying some of us may be." Klaus inserted, agreeing with Elijah, but eye-ing Freya suspiciously. She had been acting odd ever since she returned home.

"Yes, we were, and we are adults, but my best friend is dead. Finn died, and there's a whole in my heart-"

"So, what, you're just done with the rest of us?" Was the cold question that came from the youngest Mikaelson in the room. He was angry, was she betraying them?

"No!" The 27 year old rushed out of her chair so fast, that it fell over, with a sickening thud. "What I'm saying is that I'm married, and I'm sad, and I don't know how to help any of you anymore! I'm pregnant!"

To Be Continued...


End file.
